Save My Soul
by fersuremaybefersurenot98
Summary: When Aphrodite meddle's with old attatchments, it causes an uproar, on Olympus and on earth. Especially for poor Percy, who is suddenly thrust into the enemy's side of the war and forced to stay wether he wants to or not. Aphrodite's plan seems crazy, but could it stand a chance? Is Luke really that far gone? Does Percy even want to save him? Could he? Set in early TLO. Slash.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Here it is! I'll admit, this really isn't my standard or a kick-ass chapter, but it'll have to do. I don't even know what I'm doing with this, guys, but I've had this idea for a while now, and it's been killing me not getting it out there. Well...here you go! **

Percy sniffled, and wiped angrily at his eyes as he paced around his room on the Princess Andromeda. He sighed and flopped down on his bed, kicking his shoes off, then getting up and pacing again.

What was he doing?

He should be at camp right now, with Chiron and Annabeth and Grover. He should be helping make battle plans. He should be helping to construct a plan to take down the Princess Andromeda! Not ON the Princess Andromeda, helping the monsters in their scheme to attack Camp Half-Blood.

What was he _doing_?

"I shouldn't even be here!" he thought and turned around, gasping as he came face-to-face with Luke. He stumbled back and fell onto the bed, letting out a stressed puff of air as he let himself fall backwards.

"Who cares what you should be doing?" Luke asked and Percy looked at him in confusion.

"I said that out loud?" The son of the sea god asked, and Luke nodded.

"Yeah." he answered simply and came to sit next to Percy on the bed. "You know...it's ok to struggle with it a little, hell knows I did when I switched sides." he said ruefully. Percy put an arm over his eyes and sighed shakily.

"I don't even know anymore, but gods do I feel..." he trailed off and felt Luke's warm hand in his shoulder.

"Feel...?" Luke asked. Percy knew Luke was making an attempt to cooperate with him, but he wasn't about to make things easy for him.

"Terrible." Percy said quietly. "Terrible because I just betrayed everyone who trusted me...everyone I loved." Percy couldn't believe it himself. Luke tensed ever so slightly next to him

"And it was my decision, so that makes it worse." Percy's voice was now slightly acidic. "It was my choice, and I chose you." He removed his arm and looked intensely at the blonde next to him. "I could be at camp right now, helping my family, but instead I'm-" he broke off and sat up, sighing angrily.

"Screwed." He finished, though he had much more to say. He put his head in his hands. Luke hadn't said a word yet.

"I hate you." Percy's voice broke, and he sniffled again. Luke's hand slipped off his shoulder. "I hate feeling like this." he felt hot tears run down his face. He knew Luke had made an attempt to cooperate with him, to console him, but he wasnt about to make anything easy for him. He remained quiet, and soon after felt Luke leaving, closing the door quietly behind him.

'_Good.'_ He thought. _'Maybe I did hurt him after all. Gods know that sure as hell hurt me.'_

The tears kept coming.

A few floors down on the ship, Luke was in a makeshift training hall, stocked with dummies and armour and weapons and all the other toys of demigods and monsters alike. He beheaded a hollow wooden roman dummy in one blow, and cracked the torso to pieces in a roundhouse kick. He needed to release the anger building in his chest somehow, before he got himself in trouble with Kronos.

Maybe it wasn't only anger in his heart...maybe it was hurt too. Thinking this, the son of Hermes felt the threat of tears sting his eyes. He lowed his sword.

'_Percy said he hated me.'_ Luke thought, and the stinging in his eyes steadily increased until he felt the tears break free.

_'He couldn't have meant it.'_ He tried to comfort himself. But doubt found its way back to him only moments after and he felt the tears run faster.

'_What if he did?'_ He felt his chest jerk as he held back a sob. _'He has enough reason to.'_

_'No.'_ The logical part of his mind argued. _'If I think about it...we're the same, me and him. This curse was put on both of us.'_ He shook his head as he referred to the feelings as a 'curse'. It wasn't a curse!

'_I could never hate him now...'_ Luke sniffed. _'So, doesn't that mean he can't really hate me?'_ There was the logical side again. He laughed a little, then sniffed. _'None of this is logical.'_

He stood, and started to walk tiredly to his room. He kept his eyes down and pulled the hood of his jacket up as he walked past the monsters and demons on deck. His eyes, he expected, we're still red and puffy. He tried not to think of the green-eyed demigod who had made him cry, in fear that he'd break down again on the way to his room. Instead, he counted the floor boards, the steps he took, armor parts lying around the floors, anything to distract himself.

As he reached his room, went in and locked the door, thoughts of the camp he'd have to burn to the ground entered his mind.

For such a long time, it had been a haven for him. A place where he felt needed and wanted. A place he called home for years...a place he used to love, and maybe still did. He recalled the day he, Grover, Annabeth, and Thalia had entered the camp. Thalia's tree which he'd had to poison himself. The plan to blame it on his old teacher, Chiron...the old centaur that was more a father to him than anyone else, certainly more than Hermes.

Another wave of sadness washed over him. He'd left Annabeth, the little girl he'd seen as his sister since they met. She was a partial responsibility to him...how could it be that now, his goal was to destroy everything she loved? Thalia...he cursed the day he had to poison her tree, the day they had fought to the death in the mountains. It was never his goal to hurt anyone from camp...

He just wanted the Olympians to go down.

But right now, the son of the Sea God was fresh on his mind, accompanied by anger and a deep guilt and sadness. He tried to argue with himself that this mess wasn't his fault. He hadn't _asked_ for the wretched love goddess to screw everything up. Up until a day or two ago, everything had been fine. Luke had been plotting to take Circe's Isle back from the pirates, and recruit the evil sorceress herself...that is, until _he_ showed up. He assumed Percy had been planning with the camp some way to take him down. Everything was as it should have been.

Until Luke had started to get random flashes of the good times back at camp, and the guilt and sadness had started up again. He could only assume the same had been happening to Percy.

Truth being told, Luke wasn't sure what he would've done if Percy hadn't have shown up when he did. He would ever admit it to himself, but he probably would've started packing up himself, and set off for camp. The ache to be close to the other had been killing him.

One thing the son of Hermes would never forget was the look of pure rage on the other demigods face as he stepped aboard the ship, and threw his sword down in an act of surrender. How he gave Luke a wordless gaze that still somehow explained everything, and stalked off in the direction of the top floor bedrooms. He wasn't going anywhere.

Luke sighed, coming out of his memory, and lied down on his bed. Realising that stray tears had escaped the corner of his eyes, he wiped them away rather angrily. He sighed and fiddled around with Backbiter for a while, reflecting light off of it, and jabbing little holes in the wall.

'_Why?'_ He wondered what he had avoided thinking about all day, up until that point. _'Why did that damned beauty goddess have to interfere and screw everything up? It was finally going the way we wanted!'_ The sandy-haired teen's eyes narrowed and he stabbed the wall above his bed again.

'_I had no problem NOT caring about Percy before.'_ He thought angrily. _'He's stupid! If he can't see that the gods ways are wrong, he doesn't deserve my help! I gave him a chance to come with me. He still chose them. He cares about that stupid camp, his stupid friends and his stupid father more than he ever cared about me. Why SHOULD I care?' _

Eventually, Luke slid his sword into it's sheath and yawned as he tried to relax.

'_This...spell will be the end of me_.' He thought, and felt a little jab of pain as he remembered Percy's tears. With a small stab of pain, he drifted into the welcoming darkness of sleep.

"Aphrodite, what have you done!?" Zeus's voice thundered across the throne room. The goddess of love walked across the room, slowly, taking her time and smiling all the while.

"I could have given us an extreme upper hand." She smiled and stood boldly in front of the lord of the sky. "And..I might have just saved us."

"Nonsense! You've just as well destroyed us all!" To say Zeus was angry was to say the least.

'_He has reason to be._' Aphrodite thought. The child of the prophecy, his nephew, had just gone over to the dark side. And it was because of her. She frowned, for a second, guiltily, the straitened and began explaining things to the god of the sky.

"Lord Zeus, I assure you, my intentions weren't to strengthen the enemy." Aphrodite's face showed honesty, and Zeus sensed she was telling the truth.

"What, may I ask, was going through your mind when you cast your little love spell?" Zeus asked, still angry, but making an attempt to calm himself. He gestured impatiently for Aphrodite to go on.

"It wasn't a love spell," she protested. "I did a lot of things involving those two, but not love."

"Not love?" Zeus asked, sitting and leaning back on his throne, he leaned his head on his hand. "From what Hermes has told me, from the things he's shown me, it is love." His aged but handsome face took on an apathetic expression.

"Believe it or not..." Aphrodite smiled. "It wasn't my doing." She smiled, and sat on the marble floors in front of the lord of the sky, scowling as she brushed dirt from her flowing blue dress. Then she sighed and smiled up at her father-like figure.

"It seems that Luke Castellan and Percy Jackson were...infatuated with each other at Chiron's camp." She smiled. "They kept it secret...it went on for a while, until Percy had to go to the Underworld. Luke, already fallen into Kronos' plan, suggested they end it until things were settled." Her expression softened. "Things never settled. Luke, caring for Percy, and not wanting to make him an enemy, offered Percy a chance to go with him. Before this, Kronos had made it clear to Luke that if Percy refused to join his army, he would have to kill him. Luke had taken an oath to obey Kronos, so he summoned the pit scorpion." Aphrodite frowned. "As I said...things never did settle for those two."

"How is it you know all of this when the rest of us knew nothing?" Zeus leaned forward, raising an eyebrow. Aphrodite smiled.

"It's my business to know when love stirs." She grinned radiantly. "I told you...it wasn't entirely my doing."

"Well, you've interfered with some sort of magic." Zeus felt the anger coming back. "Speaking of which, you still haven't told me what you did. Percy Jackson has gone over to the enemy!"

"Yes." Aphrodite agreed. "I did tinker around with the two of them..just a little." she said, looking slightly guilty.

"And what exactly would this 'tinkering' be?" Zeus pressed.

"I simply resurfaced the memories the two have so desperately avoided these passed years. Flashes of their times together pop up out of nowhere as well as in dreams. Percy had been worrying about Luke's safely and well being, despite being an enemy. Luke regrets leaving, and still feels terrible about everything, but thinks he's doing the right thing. Luke will never admit it, but he hates having to leave his family, and having to fight against them."

"It was his choice to begin with!" Zeus' voice thundered across the throne room, and lightning flashed in the distance. He stood. "If he'd been stronger...if he hadn't have listened to Kronos-"

"Anyone can be fooled my lord!" Aphrodite stood as well. "God and demigod alike are vulnerable to trickery! We ourselves have been fooled and misled at the best of times." Her eyes narrowed. "I don't see how Percy Jackson or Luke Castellan is to blame for anything." she said daringly.

"I don't see how you could be as foolish as to force the child of the prophecy to Kronos' army!" Zeus shot back. Aphrodite's kaleidoscope eyes flashed dangerously, and she straightened herself.

"Percy and Luke's loyalties lie with each other." She said and turned on her heel, blue dress flowing behind her in a nonexistent wind. "I've made sure of that, for the time being." She began to walk out of the throne room, passed the towering columns and polished steps.

"You've just put us all on the line with this little love experiment Aphrodite! I will not forget this!" She heard Zeus yelling after her, and noted the powerful blast of energy when he left the throne room in a flash of lightning. She continued to walk, taking her time on the way to her temple.

"I wouldn't have sent Percy into enemy territory without good reason. I admit, my plan wasn't perfect, but it's just as likely to work as it is to fail. She spoke, knowing Zeus could still hear her. "Its not just a love experiment...I'm hoping he can save Luke...and ultimately, save us all."

**AN: So...thoughts? Sorry it's not too long. I'm already a-workin' on the next chapter. And sorry for any OCD-ness. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Sorry for any OOC-ness, people. Really, I hate this chapter, but it's all I got for now /x I don't know where this story's going. The plot has changed so much from how I first intended it to be. Maybe I can work a good plot in, yet...we shall see. I will take any flames down to hell with me.**

Percy felt like the new kid at school as he walked through the halls of The Princess Andromeda. Monsters and traitor demigods alike smirked, stared curiously and openly gawked at him as he sat alone at a small table in the dining area. Percy leaned back in his chair, picking small bites off of the plate in front of him with a fork. He jabbed a piece of scrambled egg and placed it slowly in his mouth, chewing carefully before swallowing and taking a drink of ice water.

"So...finally decided to join the cause?" Asked an Asian teen in full body armour as he boldly sat opposite of Percy. He bit off a piece of a bacon strip.

"Finally." Agreed Percy as though he had no problem with being there. He took another, bigger bite of his breakfast, and allowed his gaze to wander around the room where there were hardly any other demigods to be found. The ones who were gazed curiously at the pair.

"What changed your mind?" This question was asked rather awkwardly as the other demigod seemed to recall the first time they'd met.

"None of your business Nakamura." Percy said, standing and leaving his plate on the table. On his way to find an empty room to crash, he found a storeroom and took some water and a whole lot of junk food, not caring if it belonged to anyone. He also jacked a couple of painkillers and other brightly colored pills from a separate room with medical supplies before continuing on his way.

It was around six o' clock in the morning, and Percy'd come to learn that not many of Kronos' army rose early. He'd been up for two hours now, sitting and watching the hypnotised families and ship staff going about their daily, hypnotised businesses.

For the past few days he'd been extremely tired...so when he found a random, clean room to sleep in, he dumped his food into the mini fridge in a corner of the room, turned the TV to a crime investigation show, and fell into a deep sleep.

When he awoke, cold, and surprisingly hungry, with a massive headache, the first thing he did was pop some pain pills and chug down a bottle of clean water. He didn't exactly trust the tap water to drink on the boat. Then he ate a couple cold sandwiches and a bag of chips before brushing his teeth and deciding to explore the decks and see what there was to kill around the ship.

'_I'm really getting tired of this.'_ Percy whined in his head.

Sometime after the pain pills kicked in, and he came to his full senses, he met up with Ethan again, who directed and escorted him to the ships makeshift rec room. Percy discovered that despite his earlier impressions, Ethan wasn't as much a master sword fighter as he came off as. Maybe Percy was just really worn down the times they'd fought before, or maybe at that particular time, Ethan was just really weak.

Either way, Ethan was taking lessons from Percy.

**-Two and a Half Hours Later-**

"Come on, Ethan." Percy demanded, parrying the attacks directed at him with ease. This wasn't Ethan's finest moment, partly because Percy had forced him to practice with a dagger instead of a sword for the last hour. Also, he could tell Ethan was getting tired, and so was he, but Percy had learned the hard way that the saying 'no pain, no gain' was, in fact, very true. "Your blows are getting weaker." Celestial Bronze clanged as Percy sent Ethan's dagger spinning out of his hand. "Your movements are getting clumsy."

"I know." Ethan grunted and unsheathed his sword. The Revenge Goddess' son's movements were a little less shaky, and a little more confident as Ethan began to press Percy back.

The next half an hour passed in a series of stinging blows both from Percy's sword and fists to Ethan's arms, stomach and legs. What made it worse was Percy, barking orders at him as he effortlessly made a living punching bag out of him.

"Defending yourself from my blows should come immediately..." Percy murmured. This wasn't going as planned. Defence and offence should come reflexively, especially to the children of the gods. "Are you sure your even a demigod?" Smirked Percy as he knocked Ethan into a pile of extra armour and weapons.

"Ha ha." Ethan said warily and glared at Percy, who grinned and offered a hand. "What's next?"

"I think that's enough for the day..." Percy tried for a smile as a familiar pain started up in his chest again. Only, this time it was different. This time, it came with a sudden dizziness, and he saw spots before his eyes. "...I think I need to lie down for a minute." He started for the door.

"You okay?" Percy heard Ethan ask with muted concern as he rubbed a forming bruise on his arm. "Jackson?"

"Fine." The son of Poseidon managed, before stumbling and falling through the doorway, hitting the floorboards with a heavy thud.

"Percy!" Ethan rushed forward as Percy experienced something like a prodding in his mind, like what he felt when searching for Grover through his empathy link.

Only this time, it wasn't the gentle searching of the satyr he felt. It was stronger, more powerful, like the waves of the ocean, searching. It was Poseidon.

"No!" Percy groaned, and began trembling. "No! No! No!"

"What is it?" Ethan asked, distressed as he knelt by his ally. "What's wrong?!"

"My dad." Percy groaned pathetically as a deep sadness settled in his chest. "My dad's looking for me!"

"He can't find us." Ethan assured him. "This cruise liner is cloaked even from the sea god. Kronos has seen to that. Any god who can see us needs permission first."

"That's a lot of comfort." Percy muttered. He felt ashamed, more so than he'd ever been since arriving. He briefly remembered a time when his dad told him he wished he hadn't been born...but after that, his father had been nothing but helpful to him.

_'Dad helped me.'_ Percy thought, _'He trusted me to do the right thing. He was proud of me because I'm his son.'_

"So..?" Ethan asked, oblivious to the struggle going on in Percy's head. "How DID you end up here, Percy?"

"Uh..." Percy fumbled for an answer. "Well...actually...I don't know." Percy sighed, shrugging. He didn't want to let Ethan in on the truth. After all, Percy really wasn't fighting for the same cause as Ethan was, and the son of Nemesis couldn't really be counted as his friend either. "Change of heart?"

"Somehow I have a hard time believing that." Ethan said dryly, and the two grinned slightly at each other as they remembered their first meeting.

"Well it wasn't that easy." Percy admitted, not sure of how much he should say. "I debated for a long time...then, one night I packed my things and slipped away in the night. To the ocean."

"It was that easy?" Ethan asked, surprised. "I thought the harpies-'

"I had to kill a few of them. When I reached the water, my powers helped me along from there."

"Oh..."

"Yeah." Percy accepted Ethan's helping hand and stood, with some difficulty. "So...you still want to practice?"

"Nah, I'm gonna head back and nurse my wounds." Ethan shook his head, and gave him a once-over, saying with slight humor, "Besides, you don't look so good yourself. Your face is green, dude. I didn't think the children of Poseidon got sea sick."

"Ha, bloody ha." Percy managed to smile. "The sea isn't the only thing I'm getting sick of."

When Percy got back to his room, he was surprised to see Luke standing just outside the door. The sandy-haired man looked nervous, clutching something in a paper bag in one hand, the other fiddling nervously with a set of keys. He was just raising his fist with the keys to knock, when Percy strode over, already feeling the familiar ache in his heart, and the anger that accompanied it.

"Luke." Percy greeted stiffly as he approached.

"Percy?" Luke sounded surprised. "Uh...hey...I thought you were inside."

"Well, you were wrong." Percy said with no real venom as he opened his room door. "What's up?"

"We docked at some seaside town about twenty minutes ago." Luke shrugged and shook the paper bag half-heartedly. "I thought you might like some food that wasn't cooked up by some hypnotized staff members."

Percy raised an eyebrow and eyed the bag warily. "Knowing you, there's probably a pit scorpion in there..." Percy's eyes widened, as he actually considered this, and took a step back. "Get out of my room!"

"Percy!" Luke rolled his eyes, and made a helpless gesture. "Will you stop? I'm trying to be peaceful."

"You and peaceful don't go in the same sentence together." Percy's fingers closed reassuringly around Riptide in his pocket. "I'm serious, Luke, get out. I don't want to talk to you!"

"No, I'm done being pushed away!" Luke shot back. "Don't play stupid, Percy. You and I both know why that idiot love goddess sent you here!" Luke's voice lowered. "But it's not going to work."

"I don't care, Luke." Percy shook his head and sat on one of the chairs surrounding the table in the room. "I'm not going to try." Luke looked shocked.

"What?" Luke let out a little laugh of disbelief. "I know you, Jackson." He went on. "You would never betray your family, your dad. You have Annabeth and Grover and whoever else to worry about. You're not going to help us fight them."

"Oh, really?" Percy asked, challengingly. "I've been helping Ethan with his sword fighting, and we've been talking about helping a few others as well." He snorted. "Quite an army you've got here. I don't see how camp stands a chance."

"Please. You're probably still trying to convince them to turn back." Luke sneered. "They've got something you've never had..courage and a mind of their own! At least they aren't stupid enough to get sucked in by people that don't even care about them!" Percy flinched at the words, and felt tears well up in his eyes.

"Percy.." Luke started to apologize. But it was too late...Percy was already feeling the insecurities and second guesses forming in his mind.

"Get out." Percy said angrily, standing up as he glared the older half-blood down. He seen regret in Luke's eyes, but that only made him angrier.

"Okay..Percy, I didn't mean that!" Luke said, but Percy only shook his head and began pushing him out of the room. "I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!"

"Get out!" Percy yelled and shoved him out the door, slamming it shut. "And don't try coming back again, or I swear, I will drown this whole ship, you bastard! You know I can!" He kicked the door for good measure, then grabbed the paper bag and threw it forcefully out the only window of the room.

_'I'm so stupid.'_ Percy thought angrily. _'I'm weak, so damn weak. He's right...if I had any courage, I would curse Aphrodite, and sink this stupid ship.'_ He wiped away the wet streaks on his face, and let out a shaky sigh.

_'Luke.'_ Percy felt his heart slowly sink with a remorse only the traitor could bring. _'What I wouldn't give to make him see that what he's doing is wrong...I would give ANYTHING to just take him back with me..because I can't stay here.'_ For a second, Percy imagined staying with Kronos' army, imagined facing off with someone like Chiron or Annabeth...or worse, his _dad_.

'_He's right...I could never bring myself to fight my friends or family. Mom would be more than disappointed with me. She would never be able to look at me in the eye again. But if Luke left Kronos...which he would never do...this war would be ours.'_ Slowly, the son of Poseidon came to the realization of what he would have to do.

Then, Percy slumped over and everything went dark.

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

Percy sat in a gorgeous crystalline cave, glimmering in torchlight with dozens of different colors. On the table in front of him was several pink candles, and sitting opposite him was the most gorgeous lady he'd ever seen.

"Aphrodite." The goddess was lovely a simple white dress. Her ever changing eyes and skin tone was as distracting as anything he'd ever experienced, but he somehow managed not to stutter.

Maybe it was the fact that she's ruined his life...it was her all along, wasn't it? Her and the stupid fates. But he didn't feel attracted to her. Then again, maybe it was the fact that he swung the other way.

"Percy." She smiled. "You look well."

"I'd feel better if I was back at camp." Percy retorted, then glared at her accusingly. "Why did you do this to me? You made me a traitor!"

"I'm sorry, dear." The goddess said sympathetically. "I truly am. But as you may know, I was never one for participating in battle. I cause war more than I help to tame it. This was my desperate attempt, my great strike to the enemy army. Without Luke Castellan, they are lost." She smiled, then, and surprised Percy with the sincerity of it. "And so are you."

"You don't understand." Percy pressed. "I know what you're attempting..but it's not going to work. We're enemies. I can't fight my friends any more than Luke can leave Kronos' side."

"Maybe." She shrugged. "I am not a fate. I don't know how this is going how this is going to play out. I'll leave that up to you."

"You seem to be enjoying this an awful lot."

"Soul mates on either side of a civil war?" Aphrodite's eyes gleamed. "Of course I'm enjoying this, sweetheart. This is what I live for."

"This has been useless." Percy decided. "You're crazy...but you've played your cards well. And you have a point." He laughed humorlessly. "Sending me to Luke? Alone and weak? I can't kill him anymore than I can kill another of my friends."

"Then how will you try your hand, Percy Jackson?" She asked, and the candles slowly started to flicker out. "I'm all out of cards."

"I've made my decision." Percy answered. "And I'm going to stick by it, no matter how much it hurts." The last candle blew out. "I think I know exactly what I'm going to do."

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO**

"Ooohh yeah." Percy slurred as he stumbled down the halls to where he knew Luke would be. Unknown to him, it was around five o' clock, and the cruise liner was sailing somewhere around Long Island, dangerously close to the area where Percy had first boarded the ship. "I'm going to get sooo drunk. That's a good a way as ever to get lost."

Somehow, he managed to get to Luke's quarters without interruptions, though he did leave a rather messy trail of purple wine in the halls. At the door, he took a steadying breath and knocked on the door. "Luke!" He called. "Open up, it's me! I need to talk to you!"

"Luke!" Percy kept yelling. "Luke! Luke!" He kept pounding his fist on the door.

"What?" A masculine voice roared from the other side of the door and Percy stumbled back, satisfied. "What could possibly be happening that you had to-" Percy still had that smile on his face as Luke appeared on the other side of the door, surprised. "Percy?"

**x**

What in the gods' name was _Percy_ doing here? He'd made it perfectly clear earlier that he wanted nothing to do with him.

Gods, did it hurt...

"Percy?" Luke asked in disbelief, shaking his head, trying to rid some of the sleepiness. "What the hell are you doing? Do you know what time it is?"

"I have to talk to you." Percy slurred, and pushed past him into his room. Luke noticed the younger by carrying a backpack. "Quick."

"Quick? Before what?" The sandy haired half-blood asked. "Is that wine?! Are you drunk?"

"Yeah!" Percy exclaimed, spinning around to face him and almost falling over. "What about it? Why do you care? Just shut up! Alright?" He plopped down on a couch and sighed, taking a long drink from the almost empty wine bottle.

"You're drunk." Luke repeated. "What do you want, Percy?"

"I'm leaving." Percy blurted. "Wether you like it or not."

"What?!" Luke exclaimed, stunned. When he recoverhis enough of his senses, he sputtered, "It's not that easy, Percy! What are you even talking about?"

"We both know what Aphrodite's doing here." Percy replied. "We both know why I'm here, but I've decided something." He took another drink and stood up. "I'm done trying. I'm done being weak. I'm leaving."

"Look." Luke said. "If this is about earlier..I was lying, okay?" He felt a panic rise in his chest. He couldn't let Percy leave. "I let my anger get the best of me, and I didn't mean it. You aren't weak."

"I have been." Percy protested, stepping forward. "That stupid love goddess came to me in a vision, and we had a little talk." He laughed. "Now, the gods have a done a lot of things in the past, trying to prevent this war, but sending me here...to you!" He gave an odd expression, almost sad.

"Now that was genius." He continued, and looked down at the bottle in his hands. "That screwed everything up. You weren't supposed to happen, Luke."

"Your drunk." Luke decided, and began tugging the boy back towards his couch. Percy wasn't thinking straight. He wouldn't be saying these things of he was. "Your tired, and your not going anywhere tonight."

"You weren't supposed to happen." Percy repeated, now with tears in his eyes. "I regret ever talking to you, Luke! Back at camp, when I was just a kid? I regret that so much, I should've just ran the other way when you started talking to me."

Luke froze, and stared at the boy as he continued. "I was so young and stupid. Now I'm just confused. You meant something to me, Luke!" Suddenly, Luke was being shoved back, and Percy had tears running down his face.

"Shh." Luke soothed, his walls breaking as he stared at the crying boy in front of him. Who knew Percy would be an emotional drunk? He put a comforting hand on the side of the boys face, feeling the wetness of salty tears beneath his fingers. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, though he half believed it was just Percy's drunk mind talking. "It's okay, Percy. We don't need to do this now."

"That's why I got drunk." Percy protested. "I do need to do this now. I'm scared, Luke. Scared of what's going to happen after this, and what's going to happen to you, and honestly, without the wine I'm not sure if I..if I would've had the courage to be saying this."

"You don't need to tell me anything!" Luke tried to comfort him, alarmed at the tears that still ran freely down his face. "And you dont need to be scared of anything, either. I promise. Come on, Percy, let's go to sleep, we can talk about this tomorrow."

"No, I need you to hear it." Percy sniffed. "Those times at camp, before I left for my first quest...I loved those times so much, but I hate them too. It's a curse, having to live with those memories. Especially the time when you left camp for Kronos. But you know what? I'm not even mad that you left us."

Percy's eyes were steady as he said his next words. "I'm so damn _angry_ at myself for being so young. If I were older...I might've been able to go with you."

"Percy..." Luke felt his chest ache, and tears spring up in his own eyes in spite of himself. "Don't say this! Not now, it's too late."

"Maybe." Percy agreed. "But I told you, I'm not trying anymore. This is for me, not Aphrodite. I needed you, Luke. I wanted you...and you betrayed us, but the more I think about it, the more I can see this whole situation your way. We betrayed you too, and I'm so fucking sorry. I can't make it better and I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Percy." Luke comforted, pulling the boy close to his chest. All self-preservation had pretty much been blown to the wind. "None of this is your fault. I was gone long before you got to camp. I never blamed you, honestly. I wish I'd had the strength to stay loyal to them." Tears spilled over his cheeks. "They were my friends too, but I was selfish and I made a mistake and now it's too late. I can't just leave, Percy, this is fate."

"You're wrong." Percy said, pulling back and standing up. "We write our own destiny Luke...well, that's what I like to think. A prophecy doesn't control my life. I do." He started towards the door, and Luke sprang up to follow him.

"Where are you going?" Luke exclaimed, furiously wiping tears from his face as he followed Percy out onto the deck.

"To get lost." Percy gave a tiny smile. "Or to go die, whichever comes first."

"No!" Luke chesty he same threat of panic as earlier begin to take over again. He's just gotten Percy back. He couldn't let him run away, or Kronos would surely kill him. "I won't let you."

"It's not your choice." Percy walked right up to the edge of the deck. "I'm going, Luke. I can't fight on this side. I won't. Hopefully my dad will have mercy on my if I decide to stay in the ocean."

And then, Percy did something Luke wouldn't have expected in a thousand years, though he'd dreamed about it since leaving camp. Stumbling forward, the son of Poseidon got right in the lightning thief's face, and for a second it seemed as though Percy would beat the older boy to the ground. His eyes were steady and unsure at the same time, and held a fiery passion that scared Luke more than anything else. Because it actually made him feel something.

Percy kissed him.

It was a kiss induced by the wine, Luke was sure, and the younger boy was trembling. But it was also very sweet, and filled with so much emotion, the ship could have set fire and Luke wouldn't have cared. Not as long as Percy's lips would still be on his. Not as long as he could just feel for once in such a long time. His heart pounded mercilessly against his chest.

And then Percy was gone.

He'd taken to the waves, just thrown himself over the side of the ship, and as Luke rushed to the edge, he seen the waves reach up to meet Percy.

Luke still felt the phantom sweetness of Percy's kiss. The son of the sea god's lips had been so warm and softened by the wine...a terrible brand, but on his lips it had been sweet. It made Luke's head swirl with emotion he hadn't felt since leaving camp, his home. It made his heart beat so hard he'd felt it in his fingertips and feared death, invincibility forgotten. But he'd also seen death before, and Percy was so much lovelier...and Luke knew right then.

He was fucked.

Hell, the minute he saw Percy Jackson dragging Grover into camp all those years ago, he'd been fucked. Hopelessly screwed, because as he remembered those stunning sea green eyes, he felt he could never leave them. After spending time with Percy he was sure of it. Right then, his very soul had been stolen...but not by Kronos.

'_Kronos can't have my soul.'_ Luke realized. '_Percy beat him to it. A long time ago.'_

Under only the stars for light, the water looked black and deadly, like the Styx, which he knew about all too well. He felt a slight pang of fear in his stomach. If he did this, and Poseidon didn't kill him, Kronos surely would. He'd betrayed the camp, and now he was betraying Kronos. The title 'Traitor' couldn't have been any more fitting.

But then, Luke remembered Percy's warmth. His untamed soul and the strength of the sea in his eyes. It gave him the courage to send a desperate apology to Poseidon, and leap over the edge after Percy, into the icy water below.

**AN: Review, please! **


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